Sunday, January 16, 2011

Chicken Miso Ramen

Ramen is misunderstood by most. The mention of ramen brings about memories of dried, lifeless noodles  tucked into a styrofoam bowl, alongside its friends: spice packet and spice oil; not pretty. For example, when I asked my parents if they've had ramen before, they laughed mockingly under their breaths and continued to glue their eyes to the television... oy vey!
Well, this is the time when I tell you, all you styrofoam-fearing, stranger-to-true-ramen readers, that ramen is not what you think it is. Real ramen, real Japanese ramen is delicious, complex, and comforting.  I make sure to get my hands on it whenever I can, see here, here and here. This ramen is two of the above adjectives: delicious and comforting. I'd like to describe it as a poor man's ramen - that is, if poor men eat delicious things such as chicken miso ramen.
I had some white miso on hand and while searching for recipes to use it up, I came across this simple ramen recipe. The best part of this soup is all of the add-ins. I straight-up gobbled down the buttered corn and soft-boiled egg. Next time though, I need to find myself some really good ramen noodles from a Japanese market. Still, a comforting bowl indeed. 

Chicken Miso Ramen
Yields: 2 servings
Original recipe here.

4 cups chicken stock
2 tbsn. shiro/ white miso
1 1/2 cups shredded chicken
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 cup corn kernels (I used canned, you can also use frozen)
1 tbsn. butter
2 cups spinach
2 eggs
2 servings of ramen noodles

optional garnishes: sliced green onion, cilantro, nori, sesame seeds

Heat up your chicken stock in a large sauce pot and gently stir in the miso until it is mixed in. Taste and add more miso if needed. Miso pastes vary in saltiness, so adjust accordingly. Bring a pot of water to a boil for the eggs. Gently lower the eggs into the boiling water and cook for 6 minutes. Remove from the water and run under cold tap water until they are cool to the touch. Peel and slice in half, facing them yolk side upwards so that they runny yolks don't spill out. Heat the butter over medium heat and add the corn. Stir to coat each kernel of corn in the butter, set aside. Blanch the spinach in salted boiling water until just wilted, remove from the water and set aside. Cook the ramen noodles according to the package, drain and place in the bottom of two large bowls. Top the ramen with the shredded chicken, thinly sliced onions, egg, corn, spinach and a sprinkling of garnish. Enjoy!


9 comments:

  1. YUM! ah, i love your recipes.

    xx
    www.dragonnfruit.com

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  2. wow, great photos, the colors really pop! I'm salivating...

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  3. Yes! Japanese ramen is one of my favorite comfort food. No Recipe(link below) has many great japanese recipes including ramen, if you're interested!
    http://norecipes.com/category/cuisine/japanese-recipes/

    But don't get me wrong, your western version looks so lovely and pretty(hello runny yolk!)that make me hungry right now!:)

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  4. Ohhh how I love Ippudo ramen! I looked back on the post you did about it and I'm craving it now. Your eggs are cooked perfectly in this. Yum!

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  5. I love Ramen. Definitely going to try it recipe this week!

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  6. I have the same problem when I tell people we make ramen at home a lot! Our recipe uses a bit more miso than yours and dashi powder for stock...I'll probably post it eventually :). On the other hand, I simply have to try adding buttered corn.

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  7. There was a time in my life where I had to camp for 3 months straight, and could only go to the grocery store every 10 days. So I quickly learned that throwing ramen in some quick stir fry made for a delicious meal. Although this looks a lot better! I will have to try it.

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  8. I don't think I have ever had proper Ramen - this looks so scrumptious, will definitely cook it up :)

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